Los sueños de España: spicy scallops and shrimp over capellini.

Spicy Scallops and Shrimp over Capellini

I’m in a Spanish state of mind today—I’ve been listening to the Vicky Cristina Barcelona soundtrack on loop for most of the day, and I’m in the process of planning a tapas dinner for Friday that is low-key and won’t make our apartment uncomfortably hot when some friends come over to eat them with us. When scrolling through pictures of meals we had yet to write about, this jumped out at me as feeling particularly appropriate to share with you today.

Granted, to make this you will have to turn on your oven (to cook the shellfish and create the sauce) and stovetop (to cook the pasta), which would be the last thing most would want to do on a day like today (i.e. hot, hazy and humid), but I assure you that the results are well worth a little excess heat. This is not a Spanish dish in the technical sense, but by adding some classic Spanish flavors you can almost picture yourself sitting at a seaside café, looking out onto the Mediterranean. Almost.

Spicy Scallops and Shrimp over Capellini

Serves 2 with leftovers

½ lb sea scallops, cleaned with abductors removed (try to find smaller scallops that are even in size)

½ lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

5-6 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons garlic, minced

1 shallot, diced

2 teaspoons flat parsley, minced

1 teaspoon Spanish paprika

½-1 teaspoons of crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)

Pinch of saffron (optional)

Kosher salt

½ lb capellini

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine first nine ingredients into an oven-safe glass bowl, season lightly with kosher salt, and bake in oven for about 15 minutes—the shrimp will be pink and the scallops firm.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, lightly season, and then cook the capellini to package directions (usually only 3 minutes); drain and place into serving bowl. Add the scallop/shrimp mixture and toss well to combine. Buen apetito!